Heel-blank for boots and shoes.



E. E. WlNKLEY. HEEL BLANK FOR BOOTS AND SHOES. APP llllllllllllll AR.111111 a.

1 ,285,533. I Patented Nov 19, 1918.

"UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIQE.

ERASTUS E. WINKLEY, 0F LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOEMACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATEBSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

HEEL-BLANK FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed November 19. 1914, Serial No. 872,989.Divided and this Epplication filed. March 23, 1918. Serial No. 224,172.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ERAsTUs E. WINKLEY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essexand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Heel-Blanks for Boots and Shoes; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to heel blanks for boots and shoes, moreparticularly to heel blocks from which finished heels are ultimatelyproduced, and is particularly, although not necessarily, applicable tothe manufacture of heels from the cheaper heelstock material such asleather-board or an analogous composition.

In the inventors co-pending application for a method of making heels,Serial No.

872,989, filed November 19, 1914, from which the present application isa division, it is pointed out that under the present commercial methodof making heels, in which the lifts are dinked from the sheet heel stockby means of dies, much expense is incurred in maintaining the specialdies as well as an undesirable waste of stock in using the dies.Accordingly the inventor conceived the method described in saidapplication which eliminates the use of dies in the production of heellifts substituting therefor straight edged knives which will producelifts of polygonal form. These lifts are produced, preferably, inseries, graded as to area, and are assembled together in heel piles thesame as the old style lifts. After the heel pile has been formed bysecuring together a definite number of lifts the heel block thusproduced is shaped to the usual heel form and is then compressed, by anysuitable heel compressing machine, into a commercial heel blank.

Important and useful advantages flow from the use of this method ofmaking heels one of which is the production, by inexpensive stockcutting machinery, of lifts which are polygonal in plan. These are builtin the usual way into a heel block, or unshaped heel, which can later beshaped to any required style of heel. Obviously the heel blocks mayadvantageously be made by the heel manufacturer in a few general sizeswhich will simplify the machinery and provide for speedy production ofthe heel blocks in large quantities. These will then be shipped to theshoe manufacturers who will have the special knives required to shapethe heel blocks to the size and contour of any particular style of heelwhich he is making. The heel manufacturer is thus enabled to eliminatethe cost of all machinery for producing heel lifts, by dies orotherwise; and the shoe manufacturer obtains the blanks for his heels atless cost than formerly.

The object of the present invention is to produce a heel block of suchcontour as to provide for the advantages just described. To theaccomplishment of this object the invention comprises a blank, for usein the production of heels, having the characteristic featureshereinafter described and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which serve to illustrate the invention,Figures 1 and 2 show two steps in the manufacture of polygonal lifts;Fig. 3 shows a plan of a heel block built by assembling a series ofrectangular lifts, graded as to area as shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4shows a perspective of a heel block built from rectangular lifts andthen having its rear corners slabbed off.

In the following description the heel stock material of whatevercharacter it may be, will, for convenience of nomenclature be referredto as leatherboard simply.

One method of producing the heel block shown in Fig. 3 is illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2, the leatherboard sheets being first severed into strips10, which for the production of pitched heels are graded as to width,from which rectangular lifts 12, graded as to area, may be produced. Thewaste pieces 14, which are not large enough for lifts, are sold to theleatherboard manufacturer and used again in making new sheets ofleatherboard.

In cutting the lifts from the leatherboard sheets straight-edged knivesare used having cutting edges which will produce a beveled edge 16 atone side of the severed lift, and in assembling the lifts in a heel pilecare is taken to place these beveled edges all at one side of the pileto provide for an Patented N 0v. 19, 1918. 4

bly produces a "truncated,stepped pyramid having one vertical side,which provides the heel. body shape required for a large majority of theheels which are made, especially for mens wear; For other heel styles,for example, French heels having a cut-under breast, the vertical sideof the stepped heel pile is not essential. lateral surfaces of the heelblock thus prepared, lie in planes closely approximating the pitch orangularity of the lateral surfaces of the finished heel which isultimately produced therefrom. Furthermore, lifts can be so cut, withrespect to gradations in area, that a heel block can be formed that willhave this characteristic relation to the lateral surface of any shape ofheel that is required. This is important, as by reason of such selectionof the lifts, stock is not wasted and the later shaping of the heelblocks is facilitated.

In order that the shaping step may be made as easy as possible, both forthe operative and the shaping cutter, it has been found to beadvantageous, although not es sential, to bevel or slab off, with astraightedged knife, the two rear corners of the heel block shown inFig. 3. This produces the form of heel block shown in Fig. 4, with fivesides surrounding the lateral surface of the heel. By reference to thedot-ted lines in- Figs. 3 and 4: it will be observed that each of thesides of the heel block lies in a plane generally tangential to thecurve required in the adjacent lateral, surface of the finished heel,the block of Fig. 4 giving the closer approximation to the final form.It will be noted that in Fig. i a heel block of the wedge type is shown,that is, a wedge lift 18 has been introduced at a convenient pointbetween the straight lifts so as to produce a,

blank high at the back suitable for shaping into such styles of heels asthe Cuban and military. It should be understood that the invention isnot confined to the making of this particular type of heel. In preparingthe usual wedge strips, from which Copies of this patent may be obtainedfor five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

It will be observed that the r the polygonal wedge lifts are to besevered, care is taken to provide a beveled edge at the thick side ofthe strip. The wedge lifts will then fit to the best advantage into thepitched side of the heel block.

The present inventor believes himself to be the first to conceive of aheel blank composed of a series of lifts any lateral section of which ispolygonal and the sides of which lie in planes closely approximating thevariations in the pitch or angularity of the lateral surface of thefinished heel to be pro duced therefrom.

Having thus described the invention and pointed out its characteristicfeatures, what is claimed as new, is:

1. A blank for use in the production. of heels, composed of a pile ofsuperposed lifts any lateral section of which is polygonal, and thesides of which lie in planes closely approximating the variations in thepitchor angularity required in the finished heel at its lateral surface.

2. A laminated heel block, for use in the production of a heel blank,composed of a series of lifts "polygonal in plan and graded as to area,superposed on each other with their edges at one side relativelyarranged in a stepped formation to provide a pitch for the back of theheel blank.

3. A laminated heel block, for use in the production of a heel blank,having polygonal heel seat and tread faces, a flat breast surface, and aslanted, stepped rear surface.

l. A laminated heel block, for use in the production of a heel blank,composed of a series of polygonal lifts, graded as to area, piled in thegeneral form of a truncated pyramid. i

5. A blank, for use in the production of heels, composed of a pile oflifts graded as to area, each of which is polygonal in plan and providedwith one beveled edge, said beveled edges being laid in steppedformation all at the same side of the blank.

6. A blank, for use in the production of heels, composed of a series oflifts piled in the form of a truncated pyramid, any lateral section ofwhich is polygonal, and the sides of which lie in planes which aregenerally tangential to the curve required in the adjacent lateralsurface of the finished heel.

ERASTUS E. \VINKLE Y.

Washington, I). 0.

